Bay Bridge Update: It’s Open!

NOTE: This post was written following the Labor Day bridge closure, and is not about the October 28, 2009 emergency closure. For more information on that closure, see this post.

Original Post:

At a 6:10 a.m. press conference this morning, Caltrans Director Randy Iwasaki announced that after almost 70 hours of nonstop work by construction crews, the cracked eyebar found on the Bay Bridge has been repaired after all, in time for the Tuesday morning post-Labor Day commute, and that the bridge is “now safer than it was” before this weekend’s closure. The Chron has more words of praise (“Everything fit perfect, the fix is in place. It’s really constructed well, as Randy said it’s been fully inspected and it’s really a nice piece of work”) for the emergency repair work from Dan Himick, president of C.C. Myers, which was the main contractor for the work. The eastbound lanes were open by 6:30 a.m., and both decks of the bridge are now back in service as of 7:00 this morning.

Randy Iwasaki also explained in the press conference video that a few detours would be maintained throughout today. The ramp from 880-North to 92-West remains closed, and the 880-South to 92-West will be kept at a two-lane configuration. The 92-West Hesperian Blvd. off-ramp is also still closed.

Motorists should take additional care when navigating the Yerba Buena section of the bridge, which has now changed from what regular commuters are accustomed to. With the installation of the new detour section of roadway completed this weekend, the road now curves south of the original bridge alignment, which will require reducing speed from 50 to 40 mph in free-flowing traffic. The detour section will be pressed into use until construction of the replacement east span has been completed.

Who was doing construction and repair work? It couldn’t have been Caltrans, or else this would be the first project in their history that has ever ended ahead of schedule, even when the schedule has been delayed!

Eric –
Thanks for clarifying, bro! I thought that was too miraculously quick for a bridge-building project! I’ll be wiser by following your blog very closely in the future. I’m still happy that the Bay Area’s traffic can continue to flow somehow, even if it’s just a detour.